Beauty Products, Makeup Reviews, and More.

Product Regrets: December 2013

Long time no see. I apologize for the lack of posts recently. When November begins, my life becomes extremely hectic. I have a brutal university schedule (18 credits and standard full time is 12 credits) and then I start my volunteer charity work for The Salvation Army (bell ringing). School finished mid-December and bell ringing stopped on Christmas Eve, so now I have plenty of free time until university begins again.

You know what that means? You can expect to see several new posts within the coming weeks. For now, here is my product regrets for the month of December. Coming up next will be my December favorites.

I hope you enjoy!

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The Body Shop Hand Cream Protector in Rose and Hemp – I had really high expectations for these hand creams because they are RAVED about by so many people. However, I was sorely disappointed when I actually tried these products. The first hand cream I tried was the hemp hand cream. I absolutely HATED the smell and that is the biggest reason why I dislike this product. My second reason for disliking the hemp hand cream is because of the way it applies to my hands. After I rubbed the hand cream in, my hands felt like they were dirty and sticky. Imagine snapping your fingers. When I tried to snap, my fingers would skid across one another rather than slide smoothly across each other. My reason for disliking the rose hand cream is the consistency of the product. I mean, it does moisturize but I think there are plenty of products that do a better job. The rose hand cream felt like a lotion. It absorbed SUPER quickly into the skin and didn’t leave any residue. The moisture wasn’t long lasting for me and I felt the need to use hand cream again within 30 minutes. I like hand creams that nourish and condition the skin for hours. At $10 to $20 a pop, I expected a long lasting hand cream that improved the condition of my hands. Unfortunately, this product didn’t deliver the results I wanted. Lastly, I hate the packaging of this hand cream. It’s 25% air and after I squeezed the air out, the product kept coming out endlessly. Because it’s metal packaging, you can’t just release your grip on the tube and expect product to stop dispensing. I always get way more than I expect to use.

Essence Colour & Go Nail Polish in Chic Reloaded –This nail polish is really tiny and really cute. I couldn’t help but want to try it because it’s so small. I actually find the size appealing because I’d be more likely to use the polish up. The color is very unique and has a different color depending on the light. The color looks either black, shimmery green, or shimmery purple. The application isn’t too terrible either. The brush is nice (bigger than the standard brush) and it takes a standard 2-3 coats of polish to reach full opacity. My issue with this polish is longevity. I used this polish on my toe nails and the nail polish started chipping within 2 days. This is an issue because I rarely have issues with chipping on my toe nails even without the use of a top coat. Polish on my toes almost always last weeks before I need to redo my nails. I wasn’t too happy that I needed to paint my toe nails again shortly after I painted them the first time. The polish isn’t terrible for the price but I feel like if I’m going to pay $1.99 for a polish, I’d rather have two Wet n’ Wild polishes or a Sinful Colors nail polish because those brands have a bigger color selection. The polish as a standalone product is a regret. With a nice top coat, I think this polish (and just about any polish) would be great.

Bath & Body Works Velvet Sugar Fine Fragrance Mist – This product made me really sad. The packaging is absolutely beautiful and the scent is very pretty. However, this body mist is VERY weak and has terrible staying power. I’ve asked several people if they could smell my perfume around 2 hours after using it and every single person had to touch their nose to my skin to smell the fragrance. I have only had my mist for a few weeks and it is already half way gone. I’ve only used it about a dozen times since buying it. That’s about 4 ounces of fragrance in just 12 days! I currently need about 20 sprays to last me half of the day. If I touch up with the same fragrance later on in the day, I’ll use another 20 sprays. Needing to use about 40 sprays a day is unheard of with a body mist. With other body mists, I only need about 8-10 sprays to last the entire day. This product is a regret because this is literally the weakest fragrance I have ever used in my life. I hate that I literally need to bathe in this fragrance to get some lasting power. I dislike that my clothes and skin literally become damp after applying and the fragrance disappears a few hours later. I really, really hope Bath & Body Works reformulates this fragrance because it’s very pretty and feminine but the lasting power is next to nothing.

Pink Grapefruit Puree Body Lotion by The Body Shop –I originally bought this product because this lotion is supposed to be high in vitamins A and C. Vitamin A in skin care is supposed to help with reducing the appearance of wrinkles and it is also supposed to tone the skin. Vitamin C is supposed to fight free radicals, encourage collagen production, and revitalize the skin. Despite these pros, I have several reasons to dislike this lotion. The first reason is the application of the product. When applied, it feels sticky on the skin. Do you know the way hands feel after applying hair gel or mousse to the hair? That’s the feeling I get all over my body. It also doesn’t moisturize my skin the way a normal lotion would. My second reason for disliking this product is the scent. It smells like fresh grapefruits when applied initially. However, it dries down to the fragrance of sweat on me. This lotion is very unappealing in every way. I’ll never purchase a puree lotion again.